Who are You?

During his reign as emperor of China, Emperor Wu of Liang (502–549 AD) embraced and promoted the golden age of Chinese Buddhism. He came to be seen as the Chinese counterpart of the Indian Buddhist Emperor Ashoka the Great. 

Bodhidharma, the first Zen patriarch of China, came to visit Emperor Wu around 520 AD.

The emperor told Bodhidharma, " I have built numerous temples and given financial support to the monastic community. Please tell me how much merit will I get for these deeds?"

Bodhidharma replied, "None whatsoever.You have not done anything out of piety nor out of wanting to do good. Pretending to do good you only wanted to purchase merit, but remember that merit cannot be purchased."

Furious and perplexed, the emperor asked Bodhidharma, "Who are you to tell me such things? I demand to know, who are you?'

Bodhidharma replied, "Your Majesty, I don't know."

What can be learnt from this great historical encounter?

'Know thyself and then be thyself'. 

Everyday we have people who do not know who they themselves are, telling others what to be or become. 

Even those who know a little about themselves are trapped in a state of confusion, trying to be someone else.

Who are we? 

We are nothing, but existence at play.

We are given a name, a religion, a country, a race, various official qualifications, a work title and finally a social title. In the end we will die to be relegated to the dustbin of existence, clueless about who we really are.

We know we are nothing, and we will remain nothing. Everything is given to us by others. All that is given to us will one day be taken away from us. 

So we create this delusional concept that we are something or someone, who is going to journey to some far away place, where we will be surrounded by sweet music, where angels dance for us, where rivers of alcohol flow. In paradise we will feast and dine on the most wonderful of foods and be attended to, by beautiful virgins who will ceaselessly fulfil our every sexual desire.

Somehow this ridiculous notion survives, and we ridiculously foolish humans, lap it up and swear by it.  So we will go out there, maim, kill, destroy for our place in this fantasy called heaven and 'paradise'.

Even as we know we are nothing, we believe so greatly in our puny intellect to analyse and discover the so called reason of our existence. 

The birds, the flowers and the animals never ask this question nor do the seasons, the sea, and win. They bestow unconditionally their wonderful grace and sometimes their awesome fury upon us.

Who are you? 

Spiritually speaking shorn of all those props and labels, you are merely another nobody, just like me. Someone who is on a journey from birth to death in a body that is perishing slowly by the moment.

Let us just, live and let live. Find harmony and balance between us and our world. To celebrate life, amongst its splendid wonders and bounty, and to die happily. 

If there is a paradise, heaven or a hell, it is here and now.

Regaining Paradise

Regaining Paradise

Paradise is not a physical place somewhere. Its a state of being. The good news is, we do not have to die to go to paradise. The best news is, all of us can live there, and now.

In paradise, nationality, religion, colour, race, gender, are irrelevant. Nor is our bank balance, wealth, social status of any consequence. Ego, hatred, lust, etc. all the things that define who we are but in the end corrode humans are not even a factor.

There is one very large group of people that live in paradise, they are called 'Children'. 

The ultimate state sought by all true seekers of spirituality is to reach this stage of being innocent, carefree, just like little children. The child is innocent because of purity and ignorance. The evolved adult is not ignorant but becomes innocent by an enlightened consciousness. They transcend human social failings to become unitary creatures, the always pure individual soul connected with the  The Divine, experienced as Creation which most of us call God by a multitude of names. 

We adults are so busy making a living and merely existing, that we forget that life is to be lived. By the time most of realise the folly of our actions or inactions its too late. 

There is a lot that children can teach us. Show us how to be carefree and happy.  

Today 14th November has been declared as 'Children's Day'. In fact everyday should be Children's day, if we wish to be happy and make others happy. 

Do you know who I am? Who are you?

During his reign as emperor of China, Emperor Wu of Liang (502–549 AD) embraced and promoted the golden age of Chinese Buddhism. He came to be seen as the Chinese counterpart of the Indian Buddhist Emperor Ashoka the Great. 

Bodhidharma, the first Zen patriarch of China, came to visit Emperor Wu around 520 AD.

The emperor told Bodhidharma, " I have built numerous temples and given financial support to the monastic community. Please tell me how much merit will I get for these deeds?".

Bodhidharma replied, "None whatsoever.You have not done anything out of piety nor out of wanting to do good. Pretending to do good you only wanted to purchase merit, but remember that merit cannot be purchased."

Furious and perplexed, the emperor asked Bodhidharma, "Who are you to tell me such things? Who are you?'

Bodhidharma replied, "Your Majesty, I don't know."

What can be learnt from this great historical encounter?

'Know thyself and then be thyself'.

Everyday we have people who do not know who they themselves are, telling others what to be or become. 

Even those who know a little about themselves are caught in a state of confusion, trying to be someone else.

_____________________

Who are we? 

We are nothing, but existence at play.

We are given a name, then a religion, then a country, then a race, then an official qualification, then a work title and finally a social title. In the end we will die to be relegated to the dustbin of existence, clueless about who we are.

We know we are nothing, and we will remain nothing. Everything is given to us by others. All that is given to us will one day be taken away from us. 

So we create this delusional concept that we are something or someone, who is going to journey to some far away place, where we will be surrounded by sweet music, where angels dance for us, and there rivers of alcohol flow. In paradise we will feast and dine on the most wonderful of foods and be attended to, by beautiful people who refuse us nothing physical or sexual. 

Somehow this ridiculous notion survives, and we ridiculously foolish humans, lap it up and swear by it.  So we will go out there, maim, kill, destroy for our place in this so called 'paradise'.

Even as we know we are nothing, we believe so greatly in our puny intellect to analyse and discover the so called reason of our existence. 

The birds, the flowers and the animals never ask this question nor do the seasons, the sea, and win. They bestow unconditionally their wonderful grace and sometimes their awesome fury upon us.

Who are you? 

Spiritually speaking, shorn of all those props and labels, you are merely another nobody just like me. Someone who is on a journey from birth to death in a body that is slowly perishing by the moment.

Let us just, live and let live. Find harmony and balance between us and our world. To celebrate life, amongst its splendid wonders and bounty, and to die happily. 

If there is a paradise, heaven or a hell, it is here and now.

Spiritual Courage

We were surprised to receive an invitation from Smokey and Patricia James to celebrate the life of young Judah who left this world about a month ago.

Judah's father, Pastor  Smokey James is a dear friend and we have spent our childhood together. I know so much about what he was him but on that day I learnt that I knew so little about what my friend had become.

It is said by the Gurus and the Saints that we many will share in our time of joy but hardly anyone will be there in our time of sorrow. With a heavy heart we went with a few of our common friends.

In India we have a word for the truly spiritual person,  'Sant', born of two words 'Sa' and 'anth', literally translated into 'end of breathing' and to become unattached from the material world and to submit oneself to the ocean of energy and love which we call God.

People that submit themselves to God appear to encounter many difficulties and trials to other normal people, but, the spiritual persons themselves remain unaffected. They see it as His will and accept everything with joy, a joy born out of gratitude.

As we gathered and met with Smokey and his wife Patricia, they embraced us with smiles. I was embarrassed for I had a long face. Smokey explained, "Why should we mourn our loss of Judah when he is with our Lord in paradise? How fortunate is  our Judah and how blessed are we to have had this pure, loving and angelic child so close to us for 17 years."

The entire James family went up to the stage and sang hymns, praising the Lord and instilling love, and surrender in our hearts. We sang along, the kind of singing that comes from the heart and not the lips.

Smokey then delivered a sermon which filled our hearts with love and respect, for we saw not Judah's father and our friend but an extraordinary man.  A man much like us but who had transcended his pain and sorrow to make great progress in his spiritual journey.

Great sorrow can either completely destroy the spirit or make a person immensely strong.
The latter path is for the blessed for they become fearless. They have touched death and returned and come to realise that there is nothing but goodness beyond this life.

That day we learnt another aspect of life and death, and experienced a demonstration of immense courage which is born of true spirituality.

Experience is not what happens to us but what we do with what happens to us. May God bless the James family for they have surmounted their pain and emerged stronger and in doing so, have inspired us.